6.2 /10 1 Votes
Directed by Ferdinand Fairfax Music by Trevor Jones Director Ferdinand Fairfax Budget 7.5 million NZD | 6.3/10 IMDb Based on story by David Odell Initial release 1983 Music director Trevor Jones | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Produced by Lloyd Phillips
Rob Whitehouse Written by John Hughes
David Odell Starring Tommy Lee Jones
Michael O'Keefe
Max Phipps
Jenny Seagrove Box office 1.9 million USD (domestic) Cast Tommy Lee Jones, Michael O'Keefe, Jenny Seagrove, Max Phipps, Grant Tilly Similar Swashbuckler movies, Pirate movies, Adventure movies | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Nate and hayes trailer
Nate and Hayes, also known as Savage Islands (UK title), is a 1983 swashbuckling adventure film set in the South Pacific in the late 19th century. Directed by Ferdinand Fairfax and filmed on location in Fiji and New Zealand, it starred Tommy Lee Jones, Michael O'Keefe and Jenny Seagrove.
Contents
- Nate and hayes trailer
- Trevor jones main theme from nate and hayes
- Plot
- Cast
- Production
- Releases
- Influence
- Taglines
- Bully Hayes
- References
This was one of many early 1980s films designed to capitalize on the popularity of Lucas and Spielberg's hero, Indiana Jones, but Nate and Hayes was a flop at the box office. This contributed to the long held belief in Hollywood that pirate swashbucklers were box office poison, a belief not laid to rest until the 2003 release of Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl.
Sir Richard Taylor of Weta Workshop said Savage Islands kick-started the New Zealand filmmaking boom of the 1980s.
Trevor jones main theme from nate and hayes
Plot
The film tells the story of missionary Nathaniel "Nate" Williamson, taken to an island mission with his fiancee Sophie. Their ship, the Rona, is captained by the roguish William "Bully" Hayes, who also takes a liking to Sophie. When Sophie is kidnapped by slave trader Ben Pease, "Nate" teams with Hayes in order to find her.
The plot is essentially a set-up for a rousing series of Indiana Jones style action set pieces, including a sequence on a suspension bridge which greatly resembles the climax of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, though notably Nate and Hayes was released a year earlier.
Cast
Production
The story was based on the adventures of real life blackbirders Bully Hayes and Ben Pease. The character of Hayes was much softened in the film and Pease turned into a villain. The script was rewritten by John Hughes.
The director was Ferdinand Fairfax, an Englishman most recently notable for his direction of the television series, Churchill — The Wilderness Years. Fairfax described the film as a tongue-in-cheek adventure in the style of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. "I'm not making Carry on Pirates or anything like that, but I think it will be a very funny film," he said.
The film was shot in Fiji, Rotorua and Urupukapuka Island. At Urupukapuka the producers built a set reconstructing the Port of Saomoa.
The film was entirely financed with New Zealand money but achieved distribution in the US. Producer Phillips raised money in part on the back of the success of his short film, Dollar Bottom.
Releases
The film has a small but very loyal fanbase which seems to have encouraged the release of the film on Region 1 and Region 2 DVD, in June and November 2006 respectively.
Influence
Nate and Hayes inspired Lawrence Watt-Evans to write the 1992 novella "The Final Folly of Captain Dancy".
Taglines
1984 VHS Tagline: He's a scoundrel... A hero... A lover of danger and the last of the adventurers... This is the story of Bully Hayes!
2006 DVD Tagline: Partners in Piracy. Rivals in Romance. Allies in Adventure.